Many
of today’s new plastic materials were developed with the medical sector being
the target market. One company, Parx Plastics launched its first ready to use
Saniconcentrates for manufacturers to safely create self-sanitizing products
with an antibacterial property of up to 99% within 24 hours. The technology
developed by Parx Plastics is the world’s first antimicrobial solution without
toxins or chemicals. It does not use chemicals such as Triclosan or heavy
metals such as silver, nor does it use biocides, Nano-particles, quaternary
salts or any other harmful substances.
The
antimicrobial property is achieved by making use of one of the most important
trace elements in the human body. The trace element, present in our food, is
essential for a healthy immune system and for building up and maintaining
cells, hair, nails and skin. Absolute safety is guaranteed not only by the
biocompatibility but also because the technology does not migrate. The
antibacterial property is the result of an intrinsic change and not of leaching
substances. The surface of a product becomes hostile to bacteria by means of a
mere physical and mechanical action.
The
first materials taken into mass production at the Italian facility in Bologna
are a Sani-ABS and a Saniconcentrate
based on Eastman’s copolymer Tritan. These are uniform grades used as a
carrier incorporating the technology that mix at 3% with plain material of the
same kind. The mixture brings forth a product with an antimicrobial property of
up to 99%. “Being able to offer these off-the-shelf solutions is a great step
forward bringing our biocompatible technology to the market.” according to
Michael van der Jagt, one of the founders of Parx Plastics. “The past few
months have been pretty turbulent for our organization receiving great interest
from many of the largest corporations. The world is moving towards more
sustainable solutions and customer pressure is rising. Companies that ignore
the shift away from harmful chemicals and dangerous substances are bound to
loose or be left behind.”
Medical
PVC products were originally made as replacements for rubber and glass given
its benefits of low cost, safety, high performance and flexibility. Glass for
centuries has been used as the most reliable items for liquid containers and
syringes but plastic offers a better substitute since it can hold liquid
content for longer and is nearly as transparent as glass. They have mostly been
produced from polyethylene or polypropylene, which means they can be made a lot
cheaper than their glass equivalents.
Teknor
Apex now offers comprehensive medical compounds such as TPE, PVC and
plasticisers. Two global medical
contract manufacturers have demonstrated the ease and precision with which
tubing made from Medalist MD-500 Series medical elastomers from Teknor Apex can
be fabricated during extrusion and post-extrusion or “downstream” processing,
enhancing the suitability of these compounds as replacements for PVC.
During
the past few years, Teknor Apex has steadily progressed in meeting and
exceeding these requirements, as demonstrated by its global customers, including crystal clarity,
kink resistance, clamp resilience, PVC-like haptics, extrusion at high speeds,
sterilization by gamma irradiation or ETO, connector bonding assembly in
clinical settings, and everyday handling by healthcare workers.
The
stringent requirements of the medical and healthcare sector are being met by
the plastics industry. Thanks to the efforts of many companies whose R&D
investments aim to bring value, reliability and safety in the medical products available
today.
